Rohit Sharma in Numbers.

Ok, I drew lot of flak for being critical of Rohit Sharma. Not cos I wrote he is a under delivering performer, but bcos he is from Mumbai. Mumbaikars shouldn’t be criticized. A harsh learning. I was thumped loud cos I referenced Mumbai for his origins. So is it that Mumbaikars fail and then they get away with it ? One greater man than this young kid continues to have to prove to his critics that he is worth the adulations and the records, yet he never cares about them. One great man who is an icon for the country who hails from the same city, same terrain, same geography as this Rohit Sharma, but then those detractors keep quiet on different grounds. Youth rules in the country. Being young is in, despite you perform or not. Oldies, move aside.

Alright, then here is dissection of this man’s performance in the ODIs. He is yet to perform in Tests and T20s doesn’t really hold that significance as its too short, so I wont count his contributions for now. Not that he has got a great record there. He has got few hundreds in Ranji games but those 100s failed to give him the confidence and attitude to take the scoring opportunities in SL. I feel this is the worst time in Indian cricket not to perform. Cos if you fail to perform, probability might be that you might never get a chance more to play. Yeah the money would keep coming in from IPL and other sources, but if you don’t make runs, then no endorsements and then no invitations to the parties as well.

Alright again, I shut myself up and let figures speak :

He has played 35 games for 637 runs with the highest score of 70* against SL in SL (2008) with an average of 25.48 runs per game. Great.

Here is his record in India in last 2 years:

filtered

6

103

52

25.75

0

–

–

–

–

1

0

6 games, 103 runs, highest of 52 vs Pakistan in 2007. 4 games against England 50 runs in 2008 (when India won 5-0) and then he was dropped. And 1 run against Australia in 2007. Sumps up to 103 in 6 games. An average of 25.75, 0.27 more than his career average. So slight home advantage for him.

Now lets see for his overseas figures in last 2 years for giving him a bit of benefit of doubt:

29

534

70*

25.42

29 games, 534 runs and highest of 70* with an avg of 25.42 runs. Diseccting more he has got 138 runs in 6 games vs Aussies (take out 66 and then he has 72 in 5 games). Aussies were the world champs (officially still) when he played them last.

Now for minnows Bangladesh : 2 games and 48 runs. Highest of 26. No distinct advantage here too. More trouble. Against HongKong its 11 runs in 1 game.

A bit weaker teams but stronger than Zim and BD (based on ICC rankings).

Vs Pakistan he has played 4 games 91 runs at 30.33 (best average against a country). Vs SL he has played max 14 games and made 238 runs at 26.44. Further breakdown gives him 8 runs against SA (long back in 2007).

He has never hit off. Not scored runs anywhere. Prodigies never average for under 26s for long. They get one defining moment and then the career turns around. 2 years for this man and that moment is still to come. The so called my critics now have the figures to compare and peek through. Judge them for yourself. And if you say still he should be given chances, then go ahead with the opinion. Its pretty clear that he has been given chances in 35 games just cos he is young and for most part of his 2 yr career, Mr DBV was at the helm of national selection committee. It would be interesting to see how Kris Srikanth deals with him.